Seb Luke Virgo creates three short character-driven stories, around the concept of Victory - the title of Cian Ducrot's forthcoming debut album - as part of the French-Irish singer songwriter's visual campaign on social media.Each of the three 60 second videos is a tale of an individual devoted to an activity, having setbacks, then eventually succeeding: a young ballerina experiencing rejection at auditions until she wins a role; a skater trying and failing, until finally executing a kickflip; a young boy, taking on ever-more challenging Lego sets. Presented as vertical videos on Ducrot's socials, each one works as a standalone piece but also together as an impactful campaign for the album. Well cast and directed, and sharply edited, with additional drawn animation to accentuate emotions and push messaging, Virgo has risen to the challenge of telling each story within the timespan - with the title track acting as the soundtrack.Due to the overarching concept, and as a result of each video's length, this is a hybrid between advertising and music video that arguably verges more towards the former than the latter. It's also an indicator that the marketing needs of record labels in the burgeoning area of 'shortform' social content is going to be a driver of new visual creativity with its own personality. It's a whole new playing field, in fact. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CIAN DUCROT (@cianducrot) View this post on Instagram A post shared by CIAN DUCROT (@cianducrot) View this post on Instagram A post shared by CIAN DUCROT (@cianducrot)

Chris Fowles directs an innovative and intriguing promo for singer-songwriter Henry Moodie, combining normal screen shape and vertical video in one clever concept. For Drunk Text, Fowles has Moodie sitting in the front seat on the upper deck of a bus during two different journeys - a day in April, and a night in November - captured from the same camera position. Meanwhile, behind him, a series of interconnected stories unfold among a number passengers who are also on both journeys.The regular 16:9 screen is also divided into three sections, which enables Fowles to use split-screen to cut between journeys, and emphasise the small dramas and interactions between the characters. And Moodie always remains in the central section of the 'triptych', performing the heartfelt Drunk Text."The concept was designed specifically for new video mediums like TikTok," Fowles confirms. "We wanted to experiment with using the format itself to tell the story."So when viewed vertically, you’ll only see the main performance. But when viewed with the widescreen you reveal all the stories and context."In doing so, Fowles has been entirely successful. There is a real complexity to the soap opera unfolding behing Moodie that makes it worth watching again. But in the dovetailing of both narrative and conceptual ideas it also makes a real contribution in addressing the issue of competing video formats.

Vijesh Rajan experiments with visual textures, in his mesmerising vertical promo for Indian composer and vocalist Savera Mehta's new single Landfill. The video is an ode to the endurance of the human spirit during these trying times. Created to be an audiovisual experience that soothes the mind and releases endorphins, the video has been made in a vertical format to be especially immersive on mobile screens, closer than monitors and TV's can ever get.Vibrant and absorbing, it's almost hypnotic in execution, and definitely an experience for your smartphone.